Apart from the Morgan, which 'aint going out in snow, all of my cars (even my Transit van) have a spare set of wheels shod with winter tyres. The wheels get changed in November & swapped back in April. I equipped my V70 with them about 4 years ago and was so chuffed with them that I kitted them all out. Since I did it, when we've been skiing I haven't had to put the snow chains on once however bad the conditions, although our V70 is only the front wheel drive version. When we went to the alps on Jan 7th this year it had been snowing since early december without much let up and the snow was pretty deep. Going up the mountain we went past a good half a dozen urban 4X4's such as ML's and X5's putting on chains; we sailed to the top with no trouble. When people say to me that they have no need for winter tyres as they have 4WD I say "and that helps you stop better in the snow ? " Mountains aside, I'm convinced of their value as we seem to get a proper cold snap every year, and even when it's not snowing the traction and stopping distances in heavy winter rain are noticeably better.
